An Evening of Empowerment: Honoring the Legacy of Coach Willa Edgerton Chisler
Posted by Sue - Admin on Oct. 15, 2026 / Subscribe 0
by Dorisse Shakir-Ullah, Vice President, Community Networking
There are evenings you attend, enjoy and remember. And then there are evenings that stay with you as a treasured memory.
September 24 was one of those evenings.
ICF New Jersey Charter Chapter partnered with Dress for Success Northern New Jersey to honor Coach Willa Edgerton Chisler and recognize two women whose lives reflect her heartfelt belief that when you empower a woman, what she carries forward can reach farther than you may ever see.
Top: ICF NJ's Mindy Neiman, Kathleen Cashman, Kelli Kombat, Dorisse Shakir-Ullah, Debbie Godfrey.
Bottom: Loraimy Kendall and Dress for Success Northern NJ Team.
The sold-out Evening of Empowerment brought laughter, tears and shared memories of Coach Willa as a coach, mentor, friend, wife and champion for women. Many women in the room were alumni of her programs. They experienced her encouragement and commitment firsthand.
Her husband, Lawrence Chisler, gave us a glimpse of the woman behind the work. He remembered the hours she spent preparing, making calls and connecting women with people and resources that could help them move forward.
Lawrence Chisler during the tribute
Lawrence also spoke about what those women gave back to Willa. Their growth, relationships and connection brought her joy. He thanked them for making the last 10 to 15 years of her life something she loved.
I will cherish meeting some of these women and feeling the atmosphere in the room of her impact.
I learned the impact and memories go beyond the room. Women still recall Coach Willa’s lessons and sayings, some reread a special note or return to a book she recommended. One described her as “a force to be reckoned with and as gentle as a rose.” Another shared, “I know I’m better for meeting Coach Willa.” One shared she’d spoken Coach Willa’s name when our post ran across her feed. She thought “Here she is, as she has done in the past, showing up in my life the moment I mentioned her name.”
Her influence continues through Katherine Rodriguez and Dr. Sharon Mireku, the inaugural recipients of the W.I.L.L.A. Award: Women Inspiring Leadership, Legacy and Action.
Katherine shared how Coach Willa helped her rebuild her confidence and career after time away from the workforce. When Katherine returned to her former high school, Academy of Saint Elizabeth to talk about her journalism career and work at NJ.com, a student chose to study journalism after hearing her story. Katherine continues returning to encourage students and recently reviewed their resumes, passing along confidence like Coach Willa once gave her.
Sharon recalled a question that would define the trajectory of her life: “What are you passionate about, and how can you translate that into transferable skills?” She carried that question into service, helping children learn financial literacy and supporting opportunities for women and minorities in technology.
Kelli Kombat and Sharon Mireku
Kelli Kombat and Katherine Rodriguez
More than 600 women participated in empowerment programs touched by Coach Willa’s leadership. Throughout the evening, those numbers had names, faces and memorable stories.
Our heartfelt thanks to Melinda Neiman for leading this initiative, Debbie Godfrey, Mindy Gewirtz, Kelli Kombat, our Dress for Success partners and everyone who contributed.
I left with a full heart and greater appreciation for investing in another person with no strings attached.
Coach Willa might have shushed all this attention. Then, I believe, she would have smiled that beautiful smile with pride at who these women have become and the people they now reach.
Marshall Goldsmith reminds us that the wisdom shared by leaders, coaches, and teachers can live far beyond them. The lessons we leave with others can be carried forward and shared again and again.
We witnessed and felt that energy throughout the evening. Coach Willa’s lessons continue through the women she coached, mentored and inspired, in the stories they tell, the memories they hold and the ways they now encourage and empower others.
What a gift she modeled for what can happen when life is spent pouring into others. Honoring Coach Willa’s legacy invites each of us to consider what we will carry forward. At the Evening of Empowerment, guests were invited to add their commitments or acts of kindness to a Tree of Kindness created in her honor.
What will you commit to?
It might be encouraging someone, making a call, a kind act or something else. Whatever you choose, let it move from intention to action and beyond.
Coach Willa’s legacy is still at work.
View more pics here: https://youtu.be/7reM_pl1a68
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